


Hope, Actually

by Draco_sollicitus



Series: 25 Days of Star Wars [6]
Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: F/M, Falling In Love, Infidelity at the beginning, Language Barrier, Love Actually AU, Modern AU, Romance, cursing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-07
Updated: 2019-12-20
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:35:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21709081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Draco_sollicitus/pseuds/Draco_sollicitus
Summary: Jyn Erso is done with London. After catching her philandering boyfriend cheating on her with his co-worker, Jyn takes the first flight she can to France, where her publisher has rented a house on a beautiful lake.She’s spent some time there in the past, working on her best-selling sci-fi novels, but there’s a new addition: her incredibly handsome neighbor, a mysterious man named Cassian Andor.They spend time together after Cassian’s car breaks down, and his quiet, peaceful nature captivates Jyn, whose life has been defined by turmoil. There’s only one problem: she doesn’t speak Spanish, and he doesn’t speak English.…Love has overcome bigger obstacles, right?
Relationships: Cassian Andor/Jyn Erso
Series: 25 Days of Star Wars [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1560265
Comments: 36
Kudos: 182





	1. South of France

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to the rebelcaptain Love Actually AU!
> 
> This is Colin Firth's storyline from the film - Cassian is the Aurelia/Lúcia Moniz character, and Jyn is the Jamie/Colin Firth character in their dynamic.
> 
> If you aren't familiar with the movie, this should still make sense: a big **warning** though is that Jyn is cheated on by her boyfriend (made up entirely here, no connection to RO with 'Tom') and catches him in the act. Lots of break-up angst and grossness of infidelity at the beginning, with implications that people have recently had sex. 
> 
> Anyway, happy reading!!! I hope you enjoy!

Jyn was late. She hated being late.

“Tom!” She shouted, digging through her coat pocket for the damn gift box. “Tom, have you seen Bodhi and Luke’s gift?’

No response. She huffed and stomped down the hallway, avoiding the collection of mail that was stacked up near her desk. “Tom?” She opened the bedroom door and saw her boyfriend of two years propped up in bed, his nose red and eyes bloodshot. “You look like shite.”

“I feel like shite,” Tom complained, tilting his head back.

“You sound better though.” She wandered in and sat on the bed, bending down to see if she’d left it on the floor, maybe tucked under the bed frame. “Maybe that means you can go with me?”

“Jyn.” Tom was in whining territory now, and Jyn told herself that murdering her boyfriend was the least useful thing she could do at the moment. “I’m sick, and I’m not even that close to Bodhi and Luke.”

Jyn grunted in agreement; Tom certainly hadn’t made much of an effort to get close to Bodhi - who was, in essence, the closest thing she had to family - or his adorable, American-born, sandy-haired partner. 

“Whatever, I’ll come back for it,” she muttered to herself. “See you later.”

“See you.” Tom waved a hand at her. “Go, go, they’ll start the ceremony without you.”

She sighed and rushed out the door, figuring she could swing by after the ceremony and before the reception; and no matter what Tom said, they  _ would  _ notice if Jyn wasn’t there: She was Bodhi’s bloody best man.

* * *

It was a beautiful ceremony, and Jyn hid her tears behind her bouquet when Luke and Bodhi said “ _ I do. _ ”

She wasn’t much of a romantic; her two year relationship with that lump sitting in her bed back home was enough evidence. Jyn didn’t think she’d ever been in love; it simply wasn’t for her. She was a bad luck disaster, between her mother’s death when she was a child and her father’s recent imprisonment for cooking the books for the wrong sort of person. No, Jyn Erso was destined to be alone, or at the very least, picking up Tom’s snotty Kleenex for the rest of her life in a bid to  _ not  _ be alone.

It wasn’t a very appealing notion, and it didn’t sit well with her: the simple fact was, Jyn was happier being alone than she was being with a total idiot, and Tom was … well. They would have a very unpleasant conversation soon. But, for now, she could cheer and watch her best friend marry the love of his life. 

“I love you,” she could hear Bodhi murmur to Luke as they broke the kiss that sealed their marriage. “So much, farm boy.”

“I love you too, Boe.” Luke rubbed his nose against Bodhi’s, smiling in that sweet, dopey, cleancut way of his. 

They headed down the aisle after Jyn, who nodded and smiled at Leia and Han in the front row; Luke’s best man, Obi Wan, was about a hundred years older than everyone else, but seemed perfectly happy to keep up the pace with the younger crowd (and, Jyn was grateful he’d stepped up to be best man - Luke was faced with the inevitable bloodbath of Han and Leia fighting to the death over who got the honor, otherwise, but Obi Wan had Stage IV cancer, and no one was going to say shit if he got the role). 

There were cheers from those who’d gathered outside the limo when Luke and Bodhi walked out, and Jyn’s cheeks ached from smiling; it wasn’t something she did often, after all, smile like a bloody moron, but with this being the happiest day in the life of someone she loved very much, Jyn figured she could make the exception.

“Are you coming with us, darling?” Bodhi asked, half-in, half-out of the limo. Obi Wan was also invited on the ride over to the reception hall, but Jyn shook her head.

“I have to run to the house and grab something,” she said. “I’ll be over as quick as I can.”

“Give our love to Tom,” Luke shouted from the inside of the limo.

Bodhi snorted and pointed at Jyn. “You’ll do no such thing, Erso. Tell that guy where to stuff it.”

“Will do, Boe.” Jyn laughed and waved as they drove off, and then hurried back to her house. It wasn’t too far from the church, luckily, and Jyn was walking in the door less than ten minutes after she had watched Luke and Bodhi drive off.

She hummed to herself as she walked in, trying to figure out where she’d left the damn gift - 

Ah  _ ha.  _ There it was. Sitting near the bay window, under a pair of …

Underwear.

Nice underwear. The kind Jyn never bought, even when Tom fussed at her for being boring. Jyn looked at it for a long second, and then turned her head. 

“Hello,” Tom greeted her, looking shocked as he came around the corner, wearing nothing but his pajama pants. “Didn’t expect you back so soon.”

“I can see that.” Jyn eyed the underwear dubiously, too … cold inside to really feel much of anything at all. “Been busy?”

“Now, Jyn, this isn’t what it looks like,” Tom began, and then a woman’s voice called from the direction of the bedroom.

“Tommy! Come back in here - that horrid woman won’t be back for hours, and I need you  _ now _ .”

“Is that Emily? From your office?” Jyn tilted her head, and shoved past Tom when he tried to block her way. “Piss off.”

She threw open the bedroom door and lifted her eyebrows. “Emily! What a terrible surprise.”

Emily shrieked and pulled the covers up to cover her bare chest, but Jyn had seen plenty. “Do me a favor, and get the fuck out of my bed.”

“Uh.” Tom was standing there. “This really isn’t-”

“What it looks like?” Jyn scoffed and turned around, crossing her arms in front of her chest. “Please, then, tell me what it  _ is,  _ Tom. Because whatever shit you come up with is probably such a magnificent, tottering lie that I’m sure I could put it in my next book!”

She shook her head and flipped Emily off, stalking down the hallway. “Get that woman out of my bed, and both of you get the fuck out of my house.”

“Jyn, please, listen to-”

“Out!” Jyn shouted, pointing at the door. “Get out before I throw you out. It’s not your name on the lease, so get the hell out of here.”

“You’re just going to throw away the last two years? Like that?” Tom asked wildly, and Jyn shook her head in wonderment. 

“Yes, yes I really am because in case you’ve suffered a random bout of amnesia in the last fifteen seconds, I caught you sleeping with someone else! And I don’t want to know how many times  _ that’s  _ happened because I don’t like feeling stupid, but I won’t feel stupid again. Get the hell out of here.”

“Jyn.” Tom tried to reach for her, but she took a purposeful step back. “Jyn, we’re in love.”

“I don’t love you.” Jyn laughed, near hysterically, at the idea. “Wow, I really don’t. Oh, this saves me such an uncomfortable conversation, so really, thank you.”

“I know you had a fucked up childhood, Jyn, but really - it’s not - it’s not my fault you’re too cold to love anyone,” Tom snapped, clearly on the defensive now. “You can’t throw away our relationship like everyone’s always thrown you away -”

“If you are not out of my home in the next five minutes, I will call Michael Chewbacca himself over here, and I will not stop him from ripping your limbs off,” Jyn snarled. “Get  _ out. _ ”

She watched, coolly, as Tom and a now-dressed Emily hustled to the door, and she held her hand out primly for his copy of the key.

“Bitch,” he muttered as he walked out the door.

“You’re damn right,” Jyn said coldly, slamming it behind him.

And she promptly sank to the floor, sobbing her heart out into her hands.

She gave herself five minutes. Five minutes to fall apart, and then it was up again, the present tucked safely in her pocket, and off to the reception, where she could tuck the hurt away from Tom’s carelessly thrown words deep, deep down where she kept all the other hurts in her life, and no one would guess a single thing was wrong with her.

* * *

Jyn pulled her luggage out of the taxi and examined the villa with a sigh.

She wasn’t sure she agreed with Bodhi’s wild idea of  _ Go to France! Get away from the country for a while!  _ But she figured she did have to write - to pay the bills, eat food, etc. - and she couldn’t do that in the house, sleeping in the bed that Tom had done all  _ that  _ in. So, her publisher and Bodhi had ganged up on her and encouraged her to take a month or two on a lake in France, at a house the publishing company owned somehow, and bang out all her angst onto the page, the way a good little writer who hated therapy should.

Jyn was tired, too tired to fight their suggestion to come here, and it  _ was  _ pretty. After paying the taxi driver with a hefty tip (for not asking why she muttered to herself so much with angry tears slipping out here and there ) she dug the key out of her pocket as she climbed up the steps, her luggage bumping and thumping up behind her. 

It was a lovely house with a gorgeous view of the lake and surrounding hills; the winter sunlight was casting dappled shapes onto the walls of the sitting room, sparkling and reflecting off the surface of the water. A quaint little dock extended some distance into the water, with a tiny boat tied off next to it. Jyn swore she saw ducks sitting on the lake. It was idyllic, undeniably.

“Bollocks.” Jyn kicked her luggage into the corner and collapsed at the writing desk that had been set up. She buried her face in her hands, inexplicably angered at how  _ beautiful  _ it was here. “Bollocks, bollocks, cock, shit -”

She got to work an hour after she arrived, taking out her pen and notebook. She didn’t switch her drafts over to the computer until the third round of editing, an oddity that confused her publisher and her editor, but Jyn had grown up with barely enough to eat sometimes, writing her stories onto little scraps of paper by whatever streetlight made its way through the dingy window of Saw’s crappy apartment, and habits were hard to kick.

Jyn’s stories were about the stars, but they were born on paper, and she wouldn’t apologize for it.

Distracting herself easily enough by the rhythm and scratch of her pen, Jyn worked until the sun had fallen behind the hills. She shivered slightly, a little colder already without the natural light coming through the massive floor-to-ceiling window, and clicked on her lamp.

And, an hour later, the fuse blew.

At least, she heard a massive pop, the lights surged, and then everything went dark and silent.

“Fuck me.” Jyn banged her head on the desk, shaking her hand out slowly as she rhythmically pounded her head on the desk over and over again. “Fuck. Me.”

She stumbled around in the dark, looking for a flashlight of some sort, but couldn’t find one. Jyn rubbed her neck and glared out the window, where the full moon was rising and casting a shimmering, otherworldly light onto the lake.

Well, she had nothing better to do. Jyn walked outside through the sliding door, sighing massively as the cold air hit her like a brick. She’d never liked being cold, and even though it wasn’t  _ that  _ cold here, it was bad enough that she wanted three sweaters and a coat. A tad dramatic, but whatever. She was standing by herself outside a house that wasn’t hers, thousands of miles away from the only family she had, cold and miserable, and with a shitty ex-boyfriend who had the  _ gall  _ to cheat on her even though  _ he  _ was the shittier partner, and she was grumpy, okay?

The grass rustled to her left, and Jyn tensed.

And now she was going to be murdered.

Her heart slammed in her throat, and she turned, hoping it would be a random wild animal coming out to snuff for scraps from the rubbish bins. But, it wasn’t an animal. It was a tall man, walking through the darkness, seemingly unaware of her presence, judging by the way his face was turned towards the lake.

“Um.” Jyn cleared her throat, and the man startled, tensing oddly as if preparing to fight. He saw her and relaxed though.

Fair enough. She wasn’t much of a threat in her fuzzy sweater, loose jeans, and house slippers. 

“Hi.” She waved awkwardly. “What the hell are you doing walking around right now?” He tilted his head at her, and huffed a quiet laugh, and Jyn winced. “Right. Sorry. France. Um. Bonjour?” That was probably right. “Je m’appelle Jyn?” She knew that one from Friends. “Um. …. Something something baguette? Maybe?” The guy wasn’t trying to murder her, but he also wasn’t responding. “Fuck, I don’t speak French.”

“No hablo inglés,” the man said softly, and Jyn chuckled, understanding at least why he wasn’t responding or laughing at her shitty attempts at French. “Lo siento.”

“That’s...yeah, that’s about right. I, um, I don’t speak Spanish?” Jyn shook her head, crossing her arms in front of her and hopping up and down slightly in an attempt to keep warm. “Or French. Obviously.”

“Cassian.” The guy had a really nice voice, and when Jyn squinted in the darkness, she could tell he was … definitely good-looking. Taller than her, with nice facial hair, and dark hair that hung almost in his eyes. Even in the dark, his eyes glinted with something, maybe cleverness, or maybe kindness. She couldn’t tell. She was also romanticizing the guy.

Cassian. His name was Cassian, if he was saying it. Universal things, here.

“Jyn.” She held her hand out to him, and he walked forward slowly, clearly not wanting to startle her, which she appreciated. She and Leia had taken countless self-defense classes though, and with Saw’s upbringing thrown in, Jyn was a hundred percent sure she could take most people down. 

“My fuse blew.” Jyn pointed toward the house. “So, uh, can’t see shit. Don’t know why I’m telling you this, if you don’t speak English, I’m just … having a shit day. Year, really.”

Cassian followed the direction she was pointing, and she could see him smile and chuckle. “El fusible está quemado?” He shook his head and said something very quickly that she couldn’t follow. 

“It’s hopeless.” Jyn shoved her hands in the pockets of her jeans and shrugged. “Guess I’ll have to call someone and fix it tomorrow.”

“Puedo arreglarlo,” Cassian said definitively, pointing at the house, and he turned around and pointed through the darkness. “Vivo allá.”

Vivo meant … live, or lively, or something like that. Jyn squinted more and could make out a house in the near distance, up on the shore of the lake.

“Oh, we’re neighbors?” She smiled even though she sort of wanted to escape inside and fall asleep for fifteen years, exhausted by the events of the day, and the entire year, as she’d suggested to Cassian. “Well, I’ll see you later, neighbor.” Jyn turned to go inside, and Cassian held his hand out, not touching her, and sort of ducked in her path.

She was on the defensive immediately, but Cassian held his hands up and talked very rapidly, pointing at the house, and then over at his house. “Espera,” he ended with, repeating it a few times. “Espera.”

When he was satisfied she wasn’t moving, he jogged towards his house; Jyn watched him go until she couldn’t see him anymore, and then she saw a light turn on in the little house on the lakeside. She eyed her own rental villa wistfully, wanting to know what would happen if she just...walked in, but something told her to wait.

Cassian was back within a minute, holding a toolbox aloft. She could see him more clearly now, as the moon was at a slightly better angle to see his features here, and  _ wow.  _ She’d never trusted anyone on sight - it had taken years for her to even tell Bodhi her middle name - but Cassian’s smile was … well, she didn’t have to speak Spanish to appreciate how beautiful it was.

He looked at her shyly, apprehensively, and held the toolbox up. 

“Oh you’re offering to fix it?” Jyn considered the odds that he was planning elaborately to murder her, but figured he could easily do that out here where there’d be less fingerprints and such to clean up when he was done. “That’s really nice of you, really, but you don’t have to.”

Cassian was already walking towards the sliding door that was open, clearly under the impression that she’d opened it for him with her mind, and Jyn sighed and stomped up the path after him, pretending it wasn’t something as little as his smile that convinced her that he might be someone she could trust. 

And ten minute later, when the lights came back on, Cassian standing at the fuse box, screwdriver in hand, and Jyn squinting to see exactly what he was doing in case she needed to replicate it, she was made aware of two very important facts in the sudden glare of the fluorescent lights:

One, Cassian was perhaps the most handsome person she’d ever seen. 

Two, she could tell him that exact opinion up and down and left and right however many times she wanted, and he would have absolutely no idea what she was trying to say.


	2. In Town

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Cassian has trouble with his car, Jyn offers him her help, and they head into town. There, she meets a friend of Cassian's, and their communication gets a little help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> more fluff more fluff more fluff

Jyn would never admit to herself that she spent the next few days eyeing the windows towards the lake, wondering if she would catch a glimpse of her handsome neighbor.

It was absurd to admit such a thing: she was coming out of a crappy breakup, she knew nothing about him, and if she  _ did  _ see him, she had legitimately nothing to say to him because they did not speak the same language. Also, she was leaving in four weeks, so if she  _ could  _ seduce the handsome-neighbor-man (not that she wanted to, but she might have considered if she could and what would happen if she did, but not because she wanted to), she would have to up and leave him within a month.

Well. Maybe that wasn’t totally unappealing. It sounded uncomplicated in those early days on the lake. Jyn needed uncomplicated.

Uncomplicated was typically best achieved by talking to no one at all, she’d discovered.

So, she sat at her desk and wrote pages and pages of absolute shit and told herself at least she was writing something; Jyn stacked the papers higher and higher on the desk, and when it looked too close to the piles of papers that used to sit on Galen Erso’s desk, she wrenched open a drawer and shoved the stacks in there where they couldn’t mock her with ghosts of her past.

When her anger got the better of her, she hauled out a punching bag from storage and took her rage out on that; she went for long, exhausting runs through the countryside, music turned on full blast and slamming into her ear drums; and, she took apart the various machinery in the house and put it back together again.

It was quiet on the lake, and Jyn needed the quiet as much as she hated it.

It was uncomplicated, and it was what she wanted, even if it wasn’t what she needed.

* * *

Jyn walked down the road, returning from her daily walk up and down the nearby foothills. The weather was pleasant, and she was considering removing her jumper to feel the weak sun on her shoulders when she heard it.

A man speaking vehemently.

She eyed the small house that had seemingly been unoccupied the last few days ( _ not  _ that she was checking because that would be strange. No, she wasn’t checking, she’d only noticed. She was observant. She was allowed to notice things), and saw that her neighbor was outside, digging around under the hood of his car. 

There was another loud clang and a round of more agitated monologue, and Jyn felt her lips twitch in response.

She didn’t have to speak Spanish to know Cassian was cursing. Violently.

“Hello?” She called out, her feet already carrying her towards the car.  _ Why am I doing this?  _ She asked herself.  _ Why am I initiating contact?  _ She hadn’t spoken to anyone in three days. That was why. At least, that was what she told herself.

The clanging stopped, and Cassian poked his head out from underneath the propped-up hood. His skin was flushed a deep red, and he’d taken off his top layer - Jyn could see a pile of fabric thrown a small distance away - to reveal that he was wearing a tight t-shirt, grease-stained and slightly transparent from sweat, and a pair of very flattering jeans.

And her mouth chose to go dry in that exact moment. Great. 

“Hola.” Cassian’s smile was small but as pleasant as she remembered, and he wiped his hand on a rag before rubbing at his neck, as though it hurt from being cricked in one way for so long. He said something very rapidly, huffing with laughter here and there as he gesticulated at the car. Jyn caught something about  _ car  _ and  _ no good,  _ and she nodded sagely.

“Car trouble?”

Cassian sighed and patted his car, shaking his head and Jyn figured that was a yes.

He pointed east, towards the town and said something about  _ partes.  _

“You need to get a part?” Jyn guessed. “In town?” She pointed as well, and Cassian nodded, mouth twisted unhappily, his smile long gone. Well, that wouldn’t do.

“I can drive you into town.” Jyn couldn’t believe the words coming out of her mouth, and then she remembered Cassian couldn’t even understand them. “Um. I have a car.” She pointed at her own garage, and Cassian followed the line of her finger. “We can take my car into town?”

“¿Quieres llevarme? Cassian smiled again, and Jyn smiled back instinctively.

She fished her keys out of her pocket and pointed at her garage. “I’ll be right back?” She brushed past Cassian and turned to smile encouragingly at him; his smile was still small, still beautiful, and she tried not to stare at how his long, lithe form looked in the sunlight, his smile almost obscured by the flare of light around him.

Jyn headed to the car left for the renters of the house, and hopped in before remembering it was a stick shift. Well, now was the time to hope she remembered how to drive a stick. She started the engine and then squeezed her eyes shut, pushing on the gearshift with one hand on her mother’s necklace.

The car lurched forward, but it did move, and after a few seconds of issues, the car went more smoothly, and she pulled up in front of Cassian’s house feeling fairly accomplished. 

He had pulled his jumper back on, and while it wasn’t as revealing as his t-shirt, it was still a very nice look; he looked softer with it on, the thick, green wool a strong match for his complexion.

“Ready?” She asked, hand on the gearshift still.

“Lista?”

Jyn bobbed her head with an embarrassed sort of laugh, and Cassian did too; the car lurched forward unfortunately, and they both flew slightly forward, Cassian with a louder, shocked laugh as he stared at her in mild horror, and Jyn with a loud shout of “Fuck!”

“Fuck,” Cassian agreed, and Jyn snorted as she shifted gears more smoothly.

“Of course you know fuck,” Jyn muttered. “At least I say it a lot.”

They drove down the road, quiet now, and she cleared her throat as they neared the edge of town. “Do you know where …” she gestured out the window, and Cassian made a soft  _ ah  _ sound, and then pointed to the left when they reached the first intersection. 

He continued to give directions, and Jyn followed them as well as she could, even if she had to back up and do a few u-turns while Cassian tried to hide his amusement. They ended up outside a mechanic shop, and Cassian hopped out and went in to talk to the person at the front desk. Jyn tapped her fingers on the steering wheel before testing out the radio on the car.

What came blasting out at first was clearly a French version of Jingle Bells.

“Ugh.” She smacked her hand on the dial, fidgeting with it until she found the classical music station; Jyn settled back in her seat and tried not to think about how papa had loved classical music before they’d lost each other.

Cassian slipped back into the car halfway through the movement of a symphony, and he smiled at the speakers, tapping on them. “Mozart?” He asked, and Jyn grinned back at him.

“Mozart.” She started the car up, and Cassian grabbed onto the door and his armrest with a feigned look of determination on his face. “Ha, ha,” she said with a roll of her eyes, and Cassian’s mouth twitched. She told herself she wasn’t looking at his mouth and changed the subject.

“What did he say? Do you have to wait? Is he going to tow your car? Will it take a long time?”

“¿Tienes hambre?” Cassian said, and Jyn frowned, wondering if he’d caught one of her questions, and if he had, what was he saying. She needed to consider downloading a translation app, soon. 

Her stomach growled, and Jyn sighed at the sound, placing her hand on her flat belly. “Fuck, I’m starving. Are you hungry?”

He shot a sly smile at where her hand was, and pointed up the road. This time when he spoke she  _ definitely  _ caught the word “restaurante,” and then he took out his phone and started typing out a text quickly, saying something about “amigo.”

“Food.” Jyn nodded quickly and let the car roll forward. “Yes. Food with friends. We’re friends. I can do friends.” She had three. Might as well expand her social circle while in France.

They stopped outside a quaint little cafe with large widows and picturesque flower baskets; Jyn parked up the block, and she quickly discovered that they naturally walked at the same pace, Cassian’s long stride smooth and controlled and well-matched for her quick, short steps. She didn’t feel uncomfortable with the relative silence between them, especially not when she heard him softly humming the same movement of the symphony that had been playing in the car.

A bicycle zipped in front of them unexpectedly as they were crossing the street towards the cafe, ringing its bell shrilly at them as it sped by. With a shout of surprise, Jyn moved backwards; Cassian, however, had already thrown his arm out in front of her, and had curved his body towards her almost protectively.

“Good reflexes,” Jyn noted with a wry grin, but Cassian didn’t smile. He looked tense, his face drawn and pale, and Jyn frowned to see it. “Cassian?” She touched his arm lightly, and he twitched away from her hand. “Are you alright?”

He stared at her and then down the road at the bicycle, and he cleared his throat before walking forward again, his stride faster now; she saw him glance down the street both ways multiple times in the last twenty feet of their walk.  _ Why was he so anxious?  _

“I’m okay,” she said, nudging him when they reached the door. “Are you okay?” Jyn peered up into his face, hoping it would give her a clearer answer, a view into his thoughts, as his words probably couldn’t.

Cassian was looking down at her in concern. “Lo siento,” he murmured. Her breath caught in her throat when he reached out and touched a strand of her hair that had fallen from her braid when she jumped. Cassian tucked it behind her ear with an aching gentleness, and smoothed it back into place, and Jyn found she couldn’t find her breath again. “¿Estás bien? No quiero estar tan ansioso. No contigo. Valiente Jyn.”

Before she could even begin to figure out what he was saying about her, the bell over the door of the cafe rang, and they looked over in surprise; a massively tall, very thin man was standing there, blinking at them owlishly behind massive spectacles, and Cassian took his hand away from where it had lingered on the side of Jyn’s face when the man’s eyes flickered to where he still touched her.

“¿Cassian?” The man’s voice was oddly droll. “¿Es tu novia?”

“Que,” Cassian hissed. 

Jyn couldn’t quite figure out what Cassian was asking the man who clearly knew him - until the man looked at her as though she were an interesting bug. She stared back up at him, well aware she was probably glaring, but not caring.

“I’m Kay.” The man didn’t blink. “Kay Tuesso. Are you Cassian’s girlfriend?”

“Uh.” Jyn blinked, twice, half-pleased to be able to understand someone, half-embarrassed by the question.

That must have been what Cassian was trying to relay to him - he barely knew Jyn, after all, and definitely didn’t want someone who was such a mess as his girlfriend. 

“No.” She eyed Kay warily. “I’m Jyn. Jyn Erso. Staying in the house next to Cassian’s, and his car broke down, so I drove him in.”

Cassian’s eyes flickered to her with clear interest when she said his name, but something slipped back over his features a second later, hiding his real expression. It was … odd. Jyn had never seen a person control their expression that way, unless of course you counted her father. 

“Well, are you going to stand in the doorway all day, Jyn Erso, or are you and Cassian Andor going to have lunch right here?” Kay asked, slightly snippily, and Jyn snorted and gestured at the door. 

“When you move,” she said, as sarcastic as Kay had been, and he squinted at her for a long time before turning to Cassian.

“La odio,” Kay said, turning and walking into the cafe. 

Cassian burst into laughter before quieting and following Kay inside, and Jyn eyed him with a small smile playing at her lips.

He looked at her as they stood in the queue to be seated. “¿Tu sonrisa es como un amanecer; pero por que estas sonriendo?” 

“Uh.” Jyn blinked for a second, but Kay spun around with an aggrieved sigh.

“¿Quieres que traduzca?” Kay snapped, and Casian flushed red before responding rapidly, and Kay waved his hand at him with a roll of his eyes. “Among other things, Cassian wants to know why you were smiling at him just now.”

“Oh.” Jyn looked over at Cassian. “I … I didn’t know your last name was Andor.”

Kay spoke quickly, and she assumed he translated because she heard  _ Andor,  _ and Cassian’s features lit up with a smile as he responded, his eyes softer than before when he looked at her. She heard “Erso,” and sure enough, Kay translated back.

“He says, he didn’t know your last name was Erso, either. And some other things.” Kay waved his hand and turned back around.

“What kind of other things?” Jyn demanded.

“I’m not Google. Figure it out yourself.” 

* * *

Lunch was fairly pleasant, and Kay was difficult at times, but generally very amusing - Jyn half-hated him, half-liked him a lot. Bodhi would get a hoot out of him, that was for certain.

When they got in the car after saying goodbye to Kay, she sighed and turned the key in the ignition.

“Let’s go home,” Jyn muttered, the car starting to move much smoother than before.

They pulled up outside her house twenty-five minutes later and climbed out, Cassian resting his hand on the top of the car as he looked at her house with a curious, small smile on her face. Jyn closed her door and locked the car, her eyebrow quirked.

“What?” She asked, tapping on the roof of the car for his attention.

“Home?” He said softly, pointing at her rental house, and Jyn shrugged with half a smile.

“As much as anywhere else is,” she admitted, hating the truth of that statement. Cassian looked confused though, so she sighed and nodded. “Yeah. Home.”

“Casa,” Cassian said as he came around the car.

“I think I knew that one,” Jyn said with a smile. They looked at each other for a long moment, and the breeze from the lake felt a little warmer.

“Bienvenido a casa, Jyn,” Cassian murmured.

He smiled at her for one moment more and then shoved his hands in his pockets as he walked down the path towards his house. Jyn let herself watch him go for much longer than she should have. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fjad;fj;adkj sorry for the long wait, I got caught up on other projects!!! Sorry!!!! I hope you all are still digging the Love Actually RebelCaptain AU, and I hope you're ready for MORE fluff and romance. Thank you all so much for your kind comments and support on chapter one!


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